Door-plate and indicator



(No Model.)

.W. N. GARTSIDE.

DOOR PLATE AND INDICATOR.

No. 380,652. Patented Apr. 3, 188 8;

UNITED STATES PATENT twice,

'WILLIAM N. GARTSIDE, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA.

DOOR-PLATE AND INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,652. dated April 3, 1888.

Application filed December 7, 1887. Serial No. 257,227. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM N. GARTSIDE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Richmond, in the county of Wayne, in the State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Door-Plate and Indicator, of which the following is a specification.-

My invention has relation to improvements in devices for attachment to doors,whereby the occupancy or vacancy of the room is indicated by the character of the word displayed on a card or plate in the casing of the device; and the object is to provide a device of the kind named and for the purpose stated which, being connected to a latch, bolt, or look on the door, will indicate from the outside, when the door is looked, that the room is occupied, and when the room is not occupied a sign will be displayed which will show that the room is not occupied.

My invention consists in the device herein described, and specially as the same is pointed out in the claims made hereto, as required by the statute.

I have fully illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, wherein-- Figure 1 is afront view of the sign-casing and the sign displayed. Fig. 2 is an interior view of the casing and contained mechanism. Fig. 3 is a view of the frame carrying the shifting plate. Fig. at is a view of the shifting plate. Fig. 5 is a View of the interior of the inner casing. Fig. 6 is a view showing the device as appearing on the inner side of the door, and Fig. 7 is a vertical central sectional view.

In the drawings, the same notations of reference being used, the like parts are designated, and reference being had thereto, the letter A designates the casing which holds the mechanism for shifting the name plate or sign. This casing consists of a metallic plate formed with sides 1 deep enough to form a chamber between the plate part 2 and the face of the door to which it is fastened. The casing is secured to the door by screws passed through the door, as 3, made in the ends or other convenient parts. In the middle of the casing is formed an opening, 4., flanged to form a seat for the glass 5, through which the sign is visible.

The letter B designates a frame, having an opening, 5, corresponding in area to the opening in the casing and for the same purpose as the opening in the casing. The frame B 1s formed with an upper and lower extenslon, 6, having the ends turned up, as at 7 whichserve as stops tolimit the movement of the slide to the face of which the sign is fixed, and the ends of the frame B are also turned up, formlng flanges 8, at the under base of which, in the fiat part of the frame,may be formed shallow channels 9, in which the guide-flanges on the ends of the sign-plate set and move. The platc B is held in position in the casing by 1t-s ends setting against the bases of the ends of the casing and the extensions setting against the screw-seats therein.

The letter C designates the shifting signplate. This may consist of a metallic plate and have placed on its outer face characters, letters, or words, arranged one above the other and indicating the information intended, as 10. On the ends of the plate 0 may be shallow gnideflanges 11, which set in the channels 9 of the frame B, and on the back of the plate are guide-flanges 12, arranged to form a groove, 13, between them, the groove serving to take the lug of the tumbler hereinafter described. These guide flanges 11 are placed on the plate so that the signsmay be shifted far enough to throw words of opposite meaninginto the opening of the casing. But one set of these guideflanges is really essential to the operat1veness of the mechanism; but I have shown two, and the leg of the tumbler may be set in either, the other setservin g as a rest for the tumbler-frame.

The letter D designates the tumbler-frame, secured to the casing and over the shifting plate by screws 14, let into the screw-seats 15 on the casing. The center of the tumblerframe has a camshaped opening, as 16, 1n the lower middle part of which is formed a bear ing-sleeve, 17, in which the shank of the tum bler 18 is adjusted. The tumbler 18 has alug, 19, which sets in the groove 13 of the guideflanges on the shifting plate, and the shank of the tumbler is extended to pass through or nearly through the door and made to fit in a socket in the tumblercrank of the casing which takes the sliding bolt.

The letter E designates a casing adapted to be secured to the face of the door, and having formedin its edges or sides ways 20, to take the sliding bolt which is connected to the latch or look on the door. In this casing is a seat, 21, in which is secured the arm of a bearingsleeve, 22, and in this sleeve is journaled the bearing of the tumbler-crank 23, which has a socket, 24, to take the stem or shank of the tumbler, as heretofore stated. The tumblercrank has a lug, 25, which sets in a slot, 26, formed in the sliding bolt 27. This bolt 27 has its outer end secured to the latch 0r bolt of the lock, and being seated in the ways of the easing E ,with the lug of the tumbler-crank in the slot of the sliding bolt, it is apparent that the tumbler will be turned and the shifting plate moved over the opening of the casing, thus presenting to observation different parts of the face of the plate, and the signs being thereon are presented according to the position of the plate.

The sliding bolt may be attached to the end of a common sliding bolt, or it may be fixed to the bolt of the lock, and thus be shifted by the movement of the look when the key is applied.

What I claim is 1. The combination, with the latch or look of a door, of a shifting name-plate, consisting of a casing adapted to be secured to the face of a door and formed with an opening in its face, a shifting sign-plate seated within the casing and formed with a groove in its back, a tumbler journaled in a keeper in the casing and arranged with its lug in the groove of the shifting sign-plate, a casing adapted to be secured to the opposite face of the door, a tumbler-crank journaled in said last-named casing,formed with a socket to set over the shank of the tumbler, and a sliding bolt connected to the tumbler-crank, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the latch or lock of a door, of a shifting name-plate, consisting of a casing adapted to be secured to the face of the door and formed with an opening in its face, a frame formed with an opening in its face and end flanges and seated in said casing, a shifting sign-plate seated within the casing on said frame and formed with a groove on its back, a tumbler journaled in a keeper in the casing and arranged with its lug in the groove of the shifting sign-plate, a casing adapted to be secured to the opposite face of the door, a tumbler-crank journaled in said named casing, formed with a socket to set over the shank of the tumbler, and a sliding bolt connected to the tumbler-crank, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my handin the presence of two attesting witnesses.

WILLIAM N. GARTSIDE.

Attest:

HARRY STOUT, PETER SHELLENBACH. 

